Many buildings and structures, such as high-rise office buildings, apartment buildings, schools, factories, hospitals, subway stations, and other commercial, industrial, residential, or other kinds of buildings or structures have ventilation systems to exhaust air for a variety of reasons. For example, high-rise buildings often have rooftop exhaust fans or rooftop vents to remove stale air from inside the building as part of an air conditioning system or for other reasons. Some buildings have cooling towers that blow air outwardly and/or upwardly to remove air from a variety of systems. Many such fans or vents are operating continuously, such that air is flowing out of the building on a nearly continual basis. Such airflow can be considered wasted because it merely vents into the atmosphere.
Modern society desires increased reliance upon alternative energy sources, such as wind power. There is also a desire for microgrid energy arrangements and energy independence. For example, buildings or communities that produce and store their own electrical power are desirable.